I'm doing more online shopping for stuff I'd normally do locally.
I have always been a "shop local" advocate, but lately I find the retail stores seem a bit dismissive or even snobby -- so much for customer service. I have actually discussed this with our Chamber of Commerce people, because they naturally push for a "shop locally" mentality, but I can't justify that if the price is considerably lower elsewhere, and they have much better customer service elsewhere.
ANYWAY, I have been trying something with some of the online stores --- most recently LL Bean --- and it's a lot of fun.
I do my shopping, get the stuff in the "shopping cart" (or bag or whatever they like to call it) then log out and wait a few days. It's AMAZING how I'll get a 20% off coupon code from that retail store within a couple days, or some other "aw come on, go ahead and check out" incentive.
Since we're building a house, I've been ordering a LOT of stuff from Amazon, and am VERY pleased with how easy it is to return stuff. MOST of the stuff I deal with has a "cross ship" policy ---- they'll send you the replacement immediately, while giving you up to 14 days to return the unwanted item. Only if you do not return the unwanted item within 14 days do they charge you for the replacement.
For example, I couldn't decide which 1000' of Cat 5e I wanted, so I ordered BOTH boxes. Then, after reading some more reviews, clicked the "return" button on the one I decided against, and all I had to do was print a UPS label and drop the box off at our local UPS store! It puts the easy in peasy!
I have always been a "shop local" advocate, but lately I find the retail stores seem a bit dismissive or even snobby -- so much for customer service. I have actually discussed this with our Chamber of Commerce people, because they naturally push for a "shop locally" mentality, but I can't justify that if the price is considerably lower elsewhere, and they have much better customer service elsewhere.
ANYWAY, I have been trying something with some of the online stores --- most recently LL Bean --- and it's a lot of fun.
I do my shopping, get the stuff in the "shopping cart" (or bag or whatever they like to call it) then log out and wait a few days. It's AMAZING how I'll get a 20% off coupon code from that retail store within a couple days, or some other "aw come on, go ahead and check out" incentive.
Since we're building a house, I've been ordering a LOT of stuff from Amazon, and am VERY pleased with how easy it is to return stuff. MOST of the stuff I deal with has a "cross ship" policy ---- they'll send you the replacement immediately, while giving you up to 14 days to return the unwanted item. Only if you do not return the unwanted item within 14 days do they charge you for the replacement.
For example, I couldn't decide which 1000' of Cat 5e I wanted, so I ordered BOTH boxes. Then, after reading some more reviews, clicked the "return" button on the one I decided against, and all I had to do was print a UPS label and drop the box off at our local UPS store! It puts the easy in peasy!
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